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CHAPTER 5 <br />INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL <br /> <br />Section 5.1 Powers Reserved by the People. The people of the City of Ramsey reserve to <br />themselves the powers in accordance with the provisions of this charter to initiate and adopt <br />ordi~ances, to require ordinances passed by the council to be referred to the electorate for <br />approval or disapproval, and to recall elected public officials. These powers shall be called the <br />initiative, the referendum, and the recall, respectively. <br /> <br />Section 5.2 Geueral Provisions for Petitions. A petition provided for under this chapter <br />shall be sponsored by a committee of five registered voters of the city whose names and <br />addresses shall appear on the petition. A petition may consist of one or more papers, but each <br />separately circulated paper shall contain at its head, or attached thereto, the information specified <br />in Sections 5.5, 5.7 or 5.8 which apply, respectively, to initiative, referendum and recall. Each <br />signer shall be a registered voter of the city and shall sign his/her name and give his/her street <br />address. Each separate page of the petition shall have appended to it a certificate by the <br />circulator, verified by oath, that each signature appended thereto was made in his/her presence <br />and that the circulator believes them to be the genuine signature of the person whose name it <br />purports to be. The person making the certificate shall be a resident of the city and registered to <br />vote. Any person whose name appears on a petition may withdraw his/her name by a statement <br />in writing filed with the city clerk before said city clerk advises the council of the sufficiency of <br />the petition. <br /> <br />Section 5.3 Determination of Sufficiency. The committee shall file the completed petition in <br />the office of the city clerk. The required number of signatures for initiative and referendum shall <br />be at ]easl twenty percent of the total number of registered voters at the time of the last citywide <br />election. The required number of signatures for recall shall be at least twenty percent of the total <br />number of registered voters at the time of the last citywide election. Immediately upon receipt of <br />the petition, the city clerk shall examine the petition as to its sufficiency and report to the council <br />within ten days. Upon receiving 'the report, the council shall determine by resolution the <br />sufficiency of the petition. <br /> <br />Section 5.4 Disposition of Insufficient or Irregular Petition. If the council determines that <br />the petition is insufficient or irregular, as defined in Sections 5.3 and 5.2 respectively, the city <br />clerk shall deliver a copy of the petition, together with a written statement of its defects, to the <br />sponsoring committee. The committee shall have thirty days in which to file 'additional signature <br />papers and/or to correct the petition in all other particulars, except that, in the case of a petition <br />for recall, the committee may not change the statement of the grounds on which the recall is <br />sought. Within five days of receipt of the corrected petition, the city clerk shall again report {o <br />thc council. If the council finds that the petition is still insufficient or irregular, the city clerk <br />shall file the petition in his/her office and notify the sponsoring committee. The final finding <br />that the petition is insufficient or irregular shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the <br />same purpose, nor shall it prevent the council from refen-ing the subject matter of the petition to <br />the voters at the next regular or special election. <br /> <br />10 <br /> <br /> <br />